Christmas bike bling

How nice on a sultry pre-Christmas evening, to pop some blue solar lights on the bike and cycle around the Peninsula looking at the lights. All I think I needed was some soft tinkly music playing from the panniers.

In to Ponsonby at night to see Franklin Road lights.

 Magic! The trip in, the mingling among the excited crowd, the lovely quiet dark trip home.

And the second bike

 Here's my new electric bike: Pedego. It brings back all sorts of happy memories from my month in Jacksonville, Florida, when I was loaned the Pedego (non-electric) to cycle on there. See below.

We've already been for a long cycle along the North Western motorway, and up to Kingsland for a celebratory drink. SO easy and effortless, and a huge pleasure to hit the cycleways.

End of one cycle - the start of the next

BOTH my bikes went yesterday - the Cyclone road bike because it was dead, and needed replacement, which is shown above. I LOVED the shape of my old bike, but it was basically a 'Hungarian Kmart Bike' and some of the cheap parts had definitely worn. This is an Avanti Discovery, which is much better made, and should see me to the shops and local places with ease. I enjoyed a whip around the Te Atatu Peninsula last night on it.

And my trusty green electric bike is now on Waiheke Island, where a grateful owner rode it from here at 6.30pm after work as a surprise Christmas gift for his wife. He sent me a text this morning saying what a good ride home it had been. I'm very pleased, and yet still feel a pang, because I have done a few great trips on that green one, and were it not for the fact that my flatmate and my sister both recently purchased much more comfortable and longer enduring electric cycles, I'd still be using it. NOW I am scouring websites for the type of bike frame that I will better enjoy, with a plan to do MUCH more cycling because of it.

Henderson Creek Cycleway now open

 It was a glorious day for cycling today and I took my bike along the Twin Streams bikeway to The Packing Shed for coffee with a friend. THis is she, walking toward me after seeing Just Plane Interesting.

 I am very pleased to see that the sewage piping etc along this strip of the Henderson Creek cycleway is well and truly over. It just goes to show how long it has been since I went along here, because the grass looks quite established and the path well used. What a relief not to have to avoid the pedestrians on the narrow footpath up by the road any longer.

Pleasant weekend rambles on the ebike.

 This is a common sight on Saturday or Sunday mornings these days. I'm parked outside Farro Fresh in Grey Lynn, about to fill my panniers with goodies.

 Perfect breezy leafy weather for cycling.

Heading home after checking out Moa in Grey Lynn.

Spring and increasing spoke action

Every weekend has seen a cycle trip or two, but no photos. The call of the cycleway is strong, and the number of potential places has increased since the advent of the battery bike. I just had to record something to say that the wheels have been turning, and normal transmission (of photos) will resume one of these days.

Midwinter ebike ride

 My sister (below) bought a flash electric bike and was bursting to use it, and the first really blue fine day this winter happened yesterday. We took full advantage and set off from Te Atatu.

 Weather cold, but still, and a wonderful day for testing the endurance of the battery power.

 We cycled from Te Atatu to Pt Chev, then up to our first stop at Garnet Station cafe and down to Grey Lynn. Stopped at Bread and Butter cafe for lunch, and then down to Ponsonby and down Franklin Road to end at Victoria Park. Along the waterfront to the Yacht Club, and back to Queen Street, and then up to the library to charge up our batteries (literally). Finally we returned home via Wellesley St and the North Western cycleway. Great day.

Summer 2013

 Finally, after returning from two months overseas, I have got this little beauty up and going, and this is me on my longest trip yet, from Te Atatu Peninsula in to Mission Bay and back. That's about as long as the battery lasts too. It still feels a bit of a cheat, but at the moment, with a touch of siatica and the looming potential of less cycling, this electric bike has opened up a whole new vista of possibility. AND I still have my other bike for shorter trips. It's a win win.